The Brother I Never Had

If I had emerged into this world with a Y chromosome instead of a second X, my name would certainly not have been Lauren; according to my parents, it would have been Luke. So, logic follows, that if I had had an older brother, his name would have been Luke. Luke, Lauren, and Lisbeth. It has a sort of ring to it, doesn’t it? And the alliteration makes the English major in me swoon.

Growing up, Lisbeth and I loved to imagine this mysterious older brother we never had. We would talk through scenarios and how things would be different…if Luke were here. When it took our family ages to saw through the trunk of the Christmas tree we were chopping down, we thought, “Luke would have had thing down forty-five minutes ago.” He was clutch like that.

We assigned him qualities we knew he would have possessed:

Height like my Dad.

Athleticism. He’d probably a baseball player. After all, my Dad taught us girls to throw a ball and swing a bat as soon as we could walk.

Quick to laugh like my Mom.

Musical. It’s just part of being a Castelli. We always sang our prayers before meals (wait for it) in four-part-harmony. It either made company feel extremely uncomfortable or extremely awesome.

Protective. Always ready to stick up for his little sisters. This was an important one, especially throughout the daily taunting that was middle school bullying. Luke would have never stood for someone making fun of me for wearing socks with my Teva sandals. No way! Luke would have been on that like stink on manure.

So, why all this talk about this brother that I never had? Well, today, I got to thinking about Luke for the first time in a long time because on my doorstep, at long last, my Brother arrived.

I got a little chuckle thinking of this sewing machine as the the Brother I never had, and it only feels fitting to give him a name of his own. Not Luke – – I’m not quite sure yet what his name will be and am open to suggestions – – but I want to name him because once you name something, you have a relationship with it. Respect for it. We’ll surely be spending many hours together, perhaps not always seeing eye-to-eye (pun intended), quarreling as siblings do. But I hope this is the beginning of a long and loving relationship with my new Brother.

Bro, it’s great to finally meet you.

This is my “excited” face.

P.S. If you’re curious, here’s a link to the exact machine I purchased: a Brother CS-6000i from Amazon. A grrrrrrreat beginner machine with a lot of features.

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Thanks for sharing!

Lovely comments so far...

Awesome! I’m so excited for you. Hygiene does not come naturally to Brothers so you are going to have to watch out for him. If he does not have a case, cover him between uses – dust is the ugly enemy of the mechanics of your Bro. And use that little brush they send you to “floss” for him. Enjoy!

Thanks, Mom L! I’m planning on starting the “getting to know you” process tomorrow, which involve some manual reading, but I can hardly wait to get started on some of the fun projects we’ve talked about.

Thank you for directing me to this post. If I didn’t already think you are the most adorable thing ever (well, maybe after my kids), I do now! Love your excited face, the story about fictional Luke, and your pun! Thanks for making me laugh out loud today! Oh, and I was known back in the day to don a pair of socks with Tevas. Sometimes you just gotta!

Aw, thanks, Jessica! Glad to give you a little laughter. I also feel a encouraged to know I wasn’t alone in my Teeva-and-socks fashion statement. You’re right, “Sometimes you just gotta!” We can’t be having cold toes, now, can we?

Cute post! I am the oldest of 4 girls. I always dreamed of having an older brother. I was so thrilled for our first born to be a boy! and he’s a terrific big brother, but his name isn’t Luke, although his younger brother’s name is. They are both great protectors of their sisters and little brothers. I’m rambling . . . just wanted to say thanks for making me smile today!

Oooo! I love that you have a Luke in the family…and that you shared in my desire for an older brother. Although Mark and I don’t have children yet, I’ve always had this feeling that like you, I would have boys of my own one day. We shall see, we shall see…. Anyway, I appreciate you digging around in my archives for this post. I really enjoyed writing it!

I’m a New York gal putting down new roots in Orlando, Florida with my hubby and our sailboat. My heart skips a beat for all things creative, be it crafting, upcycling, sewing, journaling…especially blogging. If I can make you smile or ignite in you a spark of inspiration, then my job is done here. Won’t you grab a cup of chai, a comfy blanket, and stay a while? {read more...}

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